The New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s board approved guidelines this week establishing a program to help invest in the redevelopment of stranded assets.

The $25 million Stranded Assets Repositioning Investment, which uses state budget funds allocated for real projects that support economic development, creates a resource that the NJEDA says is designed to help communities redevelop and reposition their underutilized properties into viable commercial real estate.

The issue of stranded assets, such as vacant or partially vacant office parks, retail malls, health care facilities, and more, has become an increasingly critical one in the wake of the pandemic, and the changing behaviors and habits, as well as economic chaos, it led to.

NJEDA officials say that this program will allow the NJEDA to directly invest in long-vacant, abandoned or blighted properties and turn them into vibrant community assets, such as new commercial, industrial, or mixed-use development projects.

“This program is our latest effort to revitalize New Jersey’s neighborhoods by creating new real estate space for businesses and bolstering tax revenues for local municipalities,” said NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan. “As economic and work trends have evolved in recent years, supporting viable commercial and mixed-use development is essential to creating sustainable and equitable growth.”

Under the program, investment opportunities will be considered through unsolicited proposals from redevelopers or through staff awareness.

The NJEDA says that the proposals will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and equitably based on several factors, including:

• developer qualifications,
• operational readiness,
• economic feasibility, and
• developer engagement with the local community.

The evaluations will also give weight to investments that support women-, minority-, or veteran-owned businesses and historically underserved communities.

The recommended investments will be presented for final approval to the NJEDA board, which will consider investment opportunities in a variety of forms, such as joint ventures, real estate partnerships, operating partnerships and equity investments.

Recent real estate deals

• Gold’s Gym staying put in Teterboro
• Office tenant expands to 18K square feet at Glenpointe
• Woodbridge QuickChek sells for $11M